Juno Recommends Electro: March 2022

Review: Two decades ago, Drexciya's Gerald Donald released his sole album as Japanese Telecom, Virtual Geisha, on the electroclash-flavoured International Deejay Gigolos label. Like much of Donald's work, which of course is inherently futuristic and otherworldly in tone, the set has aged well. It's full of punchy electro beats, bold Kraftwerkian melodies, fuzzy bass and starry electronics, offering a more stripped-back and occasionally funky take on the more layered and thematically complex Drexciya sound. Our picks of a very strong bunch include 'Mounting Yoko', the bubbly and picturesque Far East electro of 'Virtual Geisha She Interacts' and the cheery, lo-fi gorgeousness of 'Pagoda of Sin'.

Review: Cult techno maverick Gesloten Circle sure knows how to rewire brains with his fizzing, caustic concoctions. This new one on Solar One Music in his native Netherlands is another case in point. Right from the off on 'Halfman' he is laying down jacked up drums, coruscated baselines and flashes of metallic synth that bristle with energy. '185' is a twitchy, acid laced electro workout with robot vocals bring the cyborg funk and The Exaltics remix then hits harder and deeper on stiffer bass. There is still time for two more jams on the flip - the dystopian acid-electro of 'Quiker' and stark industrial electro of 'Sequence Slip.'

Review: Since debuting on Echovolt Records back in 2016, Gennadiy Manzhos AKA Low Tape has released some exceptional material via labels such as X-Kalay, Eudemonia and Further Electronix. This outing on Bristol-based We're Going Deep may well be his best yet. A journey through properly deep electro territory, it's packed to the rafters with deep space pads, drifting electronic motifs, bubbly basslines and snappy machine drums. Choose between the hypnotic, Snivilisation-era Orbital style brilliance of 'Analog Electro' and 'Romancelectro' (very 'Semi-Detatched', and that's a compliment), the swirling, starfall melancholia of '13th Floor' and the acid-laced aural snowstorm that is 'Arctic Orbital Station'. In a word: brilliant.

Review: Lloyd Stellar was not really a man gifted an extraordinary name when he was born. Rather, it is the chosen alias for Dutch dude Erik Griffoen, but he's surely made the name his own with a rapid rise in the number of releases of his music so far this year. Now Stellar gets has mitts on 20/20 Vision alongside The Droid, aka Ben Evans. In line with the label's exploration of electro over the past few years, this is hi-tech machine funk through and through, with twitchy synth lines and brittle, crisp drum machine patterns programmed within an inch of their lives. Maintaining a steely, dystopian mood throughout, this is serious electro for the heads, executed with precision and flair.

Review: Two years on from the release of their first joint EP as Negroni Nails, Privacy and Steffi Doms re-unite for another surging, energy-packed four-track dancefloor romp. In keeping with the breathless, action-packed Klakson sound, all four tracks giddily blur the boundaries between basement-bothering techno and high-octane electro and throbbing. The EP's standout moment is arguably opener 'Slow Motion Drip', a slamming, strobe-lit throb-job in which creepy chords, buzzing riffs and razor-sharp electronics ride a TB-303-driven acid bassline and sweaty techno drums. That said, there's much to set the pulse racing elsewhere across the EP, with dark electro-not-electro stomper 'Vertical Slice' and the deeper, woozier 'Passive Attention' being our picks.

Review: More hot-to-trot heaviness on Unknown To The Unknown's Dance Trax offshoot, as electro/techno heavyweight Jensen Interceptor joins forces with Berlin's foul-mouthed DJ Fuck Off for a trip into high-octane electro-tek/ghetto booty territory. The main attraction is arguably opener 'Ride', a breathless slammer full of nasty synth sounds, teak-tough beats and cut-up vocal samples that's subsequently given an even more up-tempo club electro re-fix courtesy of Bogata-based producer Dagga. Elsewhere, 'Drop Your Pants' is another seriously sleazy and pumping slab of X-rated dancefloor insanity, while 'Boy You Nasty' is a muscular, driving slab of steroid-enhanced ghetto-tek sweatiness.

Review: Byakku: Tai Braindance is a welcome collaboration between two retro-futurist imprints, '90s IDM revivalists Childhood Intelligence (an organization run from Berlin and Tokyo) and London-based bleep, acid, rave and hardcore specialists Tone Dropout. Featuring tracks from artists associated with both labels, it's a giddy and largely celebratory fusion of both labels' styles with an added dollop of interplanetary sci-fi futurism. There's much to enjoy throughout, from the shimmering deep space electro of E-Control's 'The Mind of Robots' and the deep, immersive, bittersweet electronica of Soft Pioneer's 'Dystopia', to the locked-in late-night hypnotism of Alphonse and Sween's hazy 'Downfall (Dub Version)', the bubbly bleep-and-breaks-goes-IDM pop of 'Existence' by Skyware Transmission vs XOTR, and the rave-igniting electro-bleep business that is Dawl's 'Time Phase'.

Review: In 2018, unknown artist James Infiltrate dropped an album of smart electro tunes that get everyone talking. It turned out to be an alias of James Burnham aka Burnski aka the Constant Sound boss aka Instinct, who is one of the most visible and prolific artists of recent years. Now some of the cuts from that album get choice remixes - AlexJann flips 'Flash' into a caustic electro banger with bright synths and twisted bass. Stojche goes for a lurching, loopy, scintillating and loopy remix of 'Isolate' that takes you to the stars and the flip offers up an acid laced electro cruiser from Sound Synthesis and Relpek mix of 'Reconnect' that is melodic and mysterious.

Review: The third limited 12" vinyl release on Leiden, Netherlands-based Moving Rhythms is by four heroes of the electro underground. Taking over the A side is Hungarian sci-fi engineer Norwell who contributes the fiercely dystopian bass attack of 'Ancient Surfaces followed by the acid laced "Void" featuring sludgy lo-fi beats. Over on the flip, the hyperspeed, breakneck tempo of GGGG & Foreign Sequence's "Dry X3" is at once glassy-eyed and bittersweet, and finally FracTAL goes for one more trip aboard the acid express on the frantic "Deeps".

Review: Russian-born, Jerusalem-raised and now Berlin-based Serge Geyzel has released on labels such as Mindcolormusic, Brokntoys, Flesh Or Die and Zodiak Commune Records. From a classical and jazz music background, he combines a love of early noughties electronica with influences of electro and dark ambient in his distinct brand of modern drum 'n' bass for his new opus titled Xenophonic. From the dreamy Jupiter jazz of 'Double Fantasy', the grey area steppa that is 'I Wonder' to the off-kilter IDM of 'Keep Walking' being just some highlights - Geyzel delivers his finest moment yet.

Review: Following up music by the likes of Eve Defy, Wetman and Sword of Thorns, Apt E returns with a pair of lengthy cosmic transmissions from Seattle-based electronic outfit Tape, a trio comprising of Cameron Kelley, Maxwell Washburn and Taylor Edmark. On the A side, you have the cosmic, Krautrock-inspired journey that is "Escape Your Shape" complete with 303 acid and dubby bassline. Equally as psychedelic is the next trip over on the flip, that is titled, funnily enough "Flip Your Trip" channeling those Can and Faust vibes of old once again.

Review: French electro botherer Kafkactrl came up over the past couple of years with releases on Vortex Traks, and now they've been snapped up by Kluentah's Zement label which means rubbing shoulders with the likes of LTF and Chupacabras. Fine company indeed, and this promising newcomer more than steps up to the plate with assured, moody and brooding electro gear produced with flair and precision in equal measure. Across the six tracks you get a lot of ground covered, from 'Interzone's edgy dystopian machine funk to the lurid robo-nightmares of 'Gradient Descent' and the Drexciyan body pop of 'Checksum Zero'.

Review: Following some great releases by DJ Cop Killer, Aerial and Santiago, Los Angeles label Private Selection is back with this one by Force Placement (aka Nu Sire) who throws down some fierce off world beats on their seventh missive. Whether it's the doomsday electro vibe of 'Lycanthrope', the space invaders smoking grass on 'Pressure Points' or the rise of the machines on the dystopian B side cut 'Seance' - the Sunken Coast EP is definitely one of this week's unexpected electro highlights - tip!

Review: Night Defined Recordings is an Austrian electronic music label based in Salzburg that has featured previous releases by Spanish veteran Eduardo de la Calle, Romanian upstart Serb and label chief Juergen Vonbank. It now presents the second edition in the NDVAX various artist series, featuring Finnish producer Mesak (Klakson/Cleaning Tapes) with the hard minimalism of 'Palek', as well as Erfurt, Germany's Mary Yalex with the unsettling ambient house of 'Running Out Of Time' and Workshop affiliated Even Tuell with the dusty twilight dub of 'In Circles' delivered in typically understated fashion.